Homeseer switches, sensitivity to phantom voltage/induction

[AnITGuy]

How sensitive are Homeseer switches to what appears to be phantom voltages or voltage induced through induction or "noise"? Are Homeseer switches more tolerant of "imperfect circuits"?

Details on why I ask.
I ask as other brand switches appear to need "perfect" circuits, circuits with no induction or phantom voltages or "noise". For these circuits, with a multi-meter, I verified what was neutral, hot or load, and line (ex measure voltages between among them). I also checked for continuity between ground and neutral, with the breaker off. There is continuity. I connected up other brand switches and no brand works (Leviton DZ15S, green led light comes on, flashes amber, and then flashes red, light goes off). GE/Jasco brand switch does not come on, does not turn on the light, the green locator led is off.
With one circuit, with it the breaker turned off, I measured 3.5 V between hot and ground, and also hot and neutural. The voltage deceased when I turned off nearby breakers, while leaving the circuit breaker off.
On a different circuit, the other brand switches would not work. With the breaker on, I found voltages on neutral, and line
With a third circuit, in which I found a malfunctioning surge protector, after removing it and carefully pushing the wires back in the gang box, I could get the Leviton DZ15S switch to work. I am using other Zwave devices, including Homeseer plug ins and Go Control light bulbs fine with Homeseer H3 Pro.

Are Homeseer brand switches more tolerant of "imperfect circuits"?
Or is it time to get an electrician to check out the circuits and panel, and if so what? I can check the circuits again with a multi-meter. I am not comfortable with opening the panel though. I have repeated my checks several times. Romex wiring is used.

I can answer questions that do not involve opening up the panel.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[randy]

How sensitive are Homeseer switches to what appears to be phantom voltages or voltage induced through induction or "noise"? Are Homeseer switches more tolerant of "imperfect circuits"?

Details on why I ask.
I ask as other brand switches appear to need "perfect" circuits, circuits with no induction or phantom voltages or "noise". For these circuits, with a multi-meter, I verified what was neutral, hot or load, and line (ex measure voltages between among them). I also checked for continuity between ground and neutral, with the breaker off. There is continuity. I connected up other brand switches and no brand works (Leviton DZ15S, green led light comes on, flashes amber, and then flashes red, light goes off). GE/Jasco brand switch does not come on, does not turn on the light, the green locator led is off.
With one circuit, with it the breaker turned off, I measured 3.5 V between hot and ground, and also hot and neutural. The voltage deceased when I turned off nearby breakers, while leaving the circuit breaker off.
On a different circuit, the other brand switches would not work. With the breaker on, I found voltages on neutral, and line
With a third circuit, in which I found a malfunctioning surge protector, after removing it and carefully pushing the wires back in the gang box, I could get the Leviton DZ15S switch to work. I am using other Zwave devices, including Homeseer plug ins and Go Control light bulbs fine with Homeseer H3 Pro.

Are Homeseer brand switches more tolerant of "imperfect circuits"?
Or is it time to get an electrician to check out the circuits and panel, and if so what? I can check the circuits again with a multi-meter. I am not comfortable with opening the panel though. I have repeated my checks several times. Romex wiring is used.

I can answer questions that do not involve opening up the panel.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I would doubt the HomeSeer switches are more immune to noise than the others you tried.

I honestly think it is time to find the source of the noise. Hopefully an electrician can find it.

My inclination would be to shut off every circuit in the house except for the one where you are installing a new switch and see if it works. If it won't work on the circuit even when it is the only one powered, try a different one.

If it works turn the other circuits on one by one, trying to identify which one is causing the problem.

[devoir]

rpade has the right of it......

if you can put your hands on an o-scope and watch the signal it should be apparent which circuit is the culprit then run down the malfunctioning device.

I have a lot of Insteon devices 20 switches + 28 receptacles + 19 other insteon power devices .... they function without any issues. My biggest issue is when something is hammering the log with commands or the control system is swamped because i made a dumb programming choice ...

I went back and reread your post.... think you need to look for leakage currents from devices on your system or noise if you can use an oscilloscope to observe the wave form.

Romex wiring should not present an issue if properly installed and wired. Hot to ground =120 volts...... Hot to neutral =120 volts............ neutral to ground =0 volts. sometimes contractors violate the installations on how neutrals and grounds are connected to devices. Second if you suspect noise I agree surge suppressors are always suspect, motors , old dimmer circuits , etc. Isolate these problems.

You indicated you were uncomfortable opening the main panel... So use the meter at any receptacle connected to that circuit to observe the quality of the sign wave or noise on the line

sorry it's late and I'm sure this was a ramble to read



Devoir

[Pete]

Welcome to the Homeseer forum AnITGuy.

With one circuit, with it the breaker turned off, I measured 3.5 V between hot and ground, and also hot and neutural. The voltage deceased when I turned off nearby breakers, while leaving the circuit breaker off.

++ check your electrical as what you see can be a life safety issue.

In the 1980's here had a detached garage. One day after cutting the lawn and resting the lawn mower bracket against an electrical conduit noticed a spark in the garage. Checking the voltage noted a 50-75 VAC voltage on the electrical neutral wire to the metal conduit.

Found it to be a tree root that busted the underground run of wires from the house to the garage. It was a PITA to replace.